Illinois Head Coach Beckman Trying to "Plug" His Troubles; NCAA Violation to Be Reported

Illinois Head Coach Beckman Trying to "Plug" His Troubles; NCAA Violation to Be Reported

It's a shame when the pressures of B1G Ten football induce a head coach to commit an NCAA violation. It's a double shame when the violation involves a serious health hazard to that same coach.
Tim Beckman, head coach of Michigan's next opponent, Illinois, succumbed to his nicotine craving during Saturday's loss to Wisconsin. He was caught on camera using chewing tobacco and the school wiii be reporting the violation to the NCAA, per US Today. Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/10/06/football-coach-smokeless...
Let's hope the media do not focus in on this sad circumstance as a distraction from the upcoming Michigan-Illinois game.

the youth leagues in almost every sport. I don't think anything terrible should happen to UofI for this, but come on people. If you're making what Beckman makes you should be able to find substitues for these four hours per week, thirteen times per year (twelve in Illinois' case).

Coaches and players are role models. Modeling behavior that is proven to be hazardous to your health is not a good idea for the school or the NCAA, especially when it comes to an actual athletic event.

I've read most of your responses here and generally agree. I just wonder if your tone (and the tone of others getting on their soap box) would change if you realized how many of the current UofM coaches dip. Not just throughout the week in practice/meetings, but on gameday. Hoke may not anymore given his position...however when he was DLine coach in the late 90s early 00s, I know for a fact he did. Unfortunately it's part of the culture. Also, we should differentiate high school coaches and college coaches at big time BCS schools on this point. Different atmospheres.

I get why the Beckman thing got blown out of proportion...he threw in a chaw on national TV. Generally, though, coaches/players/staff of big time college football programs aren't making their "bad habits" a spectacle. Further, I highly doubt a player would see a coach dipping and choose to dip for that sole reason - it's actually more probable that his peers would be the one to influence him in one direction or the other. This is different in high school where a 15 year-old may give it a try because his position coach is always dipping.

I've watched parts of two or three Illinois games this season and was really amazed at how awful they've become--particularly since Zook actually left them a fair amount of talent on the roster.

I wouldn't normally expect a school to consider firing a coach after just one season, and there is a long way yet to go this year. But already Beckman's had the embarrassing flap with trying to recruit Penn State players, there's this stupid violation over chewing tobacco, and the product he's putting on the field is absolutely atrocious. At some point you've got to start thinking about cutting your losses. A couple more incidents like this and I would think he could be looking at an early hot seat.

I don't like seeing coaches get fired before they've had a legitimate chance to show what they can do, which one year pretty much never is. But when you're getting blown out by 4+ TDs every week, you can't afford to be making an ass of yourself with things like chewing tobacco or trying to raid Penn State's roster. I certainly don't think he's in any danger of being fired based on what has happened to date. But if Beckman keeps losing and keeps having these little mini-tempests, people are going to start losing their patience.

Your phrasing/description of the events is very strange. It's not that sad, it's not a huge deal, and it's not clear that he's doing this due to the extreme pressures of the job. It's not like he's out on the field doing lines of blow.

So stupid. I don't understand peoples stance on tobacco. These arne't kids at the universities, they are adults. and they can made educated decisions on if to use tobacco or not. Banning a legal substance is rediculous.

Not chewing during a game is difficult to do, especially if you're severely addicted to nicotine. Non-users won't understand, but chewing on the field is like pizza&beer, Jack&Coke, and hug&a kiss. BTW, Lloyd used to chew during games too, before he was a head coach (as did a bunch of coaches).

I've been chewing for a LONG time. Too long. I've just recently switched to Mint Snuff, a non-tabacco/non-nicotine alternative. I wonder what the NCAA would say about that?

No offense to you (and congrats on the switch - keep it up), but the best way to avoid getting addicted to something is not to start in the first place. I don't have any sympathy for people who get addicted to tobacco, other drugs, or alcohol. It's a stupid decision when people get hooked on those things, and then they pay for their mistakes later.

Good for you for being ultra strong in your convictions. Some of us, however, are pre-disposed to addictions (coming from a long family line of addicted nicotine and/or alcohol users). Normally I read your contributions with interest, but in this case, you can take your holier than thou BS and shove it up your ass.

I've had fellow coaches dip. And then I've found out that some of my players are doing it and I try to warn them off it. You know what their response is? "Well, Coach _______ does it." And I have no response, because some of my fellow coaches aren't being good role models, and I can't exactly demean my colleague. So I've seen its effects on younger people, and I know that nothing good comes from it.

Like I said, good for you for weaning yourself off the tobacco. That's a step in the right direction toward becoming healthier and a better role model for the next generation.

Everybody has addictions. Just because yours aren't as noticeable or detrimental as drugs and alcohol doesn't mean they're not there. To say you have "no sympathy" for millions of people suffering with addiction and that they're all stupid is unbelievably insensitive, judgmental, and does nobody any good.

Except for a very small minority, you don't "suffer from" addiction. You choose it.

People who chew tobacco don't "suffer from" mouth cancer. They get it because of their choices. Just like most people don't "suffer from" obesity. They're fat because they eat too much and/or don't exercise.*

This is the last I'm going to say on the subject, because I've said what I have to say.

*Obviously, there are some people who are obese, addicted, etc. due to reasons beyond their control. Those are in the minority, though.

Could you leave these pages and your website for two weeks? I'm not nearly the mgo-follower you are, and I have a hell of a time making it more than 10 days without mgoblog, your site, or aquaman's site.

You're missing the incredibly important point that addiction interferes with your ability to make choices by directly affecting your brain's choice-making machinery. It is therefore much more complicated morally than your description captures.

is an ncaa violation. Other than that, there is no reason to talk about it. This is an example of why I stopped reading USA Today. They broke the story. They don't report news, they report sensationalized stories about people.